The territorial gains came as Moscow focuses on fending off Ukraine’s southern counteroffensive around Kherson and could weaken Russia’s hold on the Donbass region, analysts said. “This week we have good news from the Kharkiv region. . . you all have already seen reports of the activity of Ukrainian defenders,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily video address. The comments follow reports that include videos on social media showing Ukrainian soldiers liberating the town of Balakliia and nearby villages in eastern Kharkiv province. The area is close to the city of Izyum, the base for one of Russia’s largest concentrations of forces. The advance boosts Ukrainian forces’ hopes of cutting supply lines to those troops, who are focused on trying to fully capture the eastern Donbass region. Zelensky did not name the cities or towns that were recaptured, saying that “now is not the time to name the settlements where the Ukrainian flag is returning.” “The total area of the territory returned to Ukraine in Kharkiv and [Kherson] The directions are over 700 square kilometers,” said Brigadier General Oleksiy Gromov, deputy chief of the operational unit at Ukraine’s general staff, indicating the attacks were the first stage of a counteroffensive intended to push the Russians back east of the Dnipro River before the winter.
You are viewing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. This is probably because you are offline or JavaScript is disabled in your browser.
Russian officials have not acknowledged eastern casualties, but local leaders installed by Russia to govern the occupied territories have reported bloody fighting in the area. Vitaly Gadchev, head of the “military-civilian administration” for Russian-held areas in the Kharkiv region, said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces had tried to surround and capture Balaklia, but claimed to have been repulsed. “The city is under our control,” he told Russian state television. However, bloggers and commentators linked to Russian forces have reported recent defeats for President Vladimir Putin’s troops in the east. The attacks came as Kyiv launched its offensive in the south, following weeks of long-range rocket and artillery attacks. The equipment, provided by Western allies, has proven critical in destroying weapons caches, logistics and command posts deep in occupied territory. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Thursday to meet with Zelensky. The Biden administration announced its intention to distribute $2.2 billion in military aid to Ukraine and 18 other European countries threatened by Russia. Washington has already provided Kyiv with more than $11 billion in military aid since January. Separately, Washington has approved $675 million in military support for Kyiv, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday during a meeting of Western and Ukrainian defense chiefs at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. “The Ukrainian armed forces have inspired the world with their determination to defend their democracy [against] Russia’s reckless and ruthless war of choice,” Austin said. “Russian forces continue to brutally bomb Ukrainian cities and civilians with rockets and artillery fire, but Ukrainian forces have launched their counterattack.” Taras Berezovets, a communications officer in a Ukrainian special forces brigade, released a video on Thursday of himself touring abandoned Russian positions and vehicles near the liberated village of Bayrak on the outskirts of Balaklia. “They dropped their uniforms and all their things” before fleeing, a Ukrainian soldier at a nearby abandoned Russian fort told him. Both claimed that enemy troops fled in civilian clothes in an attempt to avoid capture by Ukrainian forces. The video also shows Ukrainian soldiers collecting weapons caches left behind by Russian forces and tearing down a Soviet flag. The US-based Institute for the Study of War said on Thursday that Ukraine had taken advantage of the fact that Russia had recently moved forces south to repel the southern offensive. The area around Kherson was some of the first territory seized when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February. “Ukraine’s businesses in Kherson [region] forced Russian forces to shift their focus to the south, allowing Ukrainian forces to launch localized but highly effective counterattacks in the Izyum region,” it added.
